Community Development Certificate

What role do community members have in shaping the built environment and making social change? What are the systems and mechanisms by which change can occur? This twelve-hour certificate program equips students to lead, research, or participate in community development processes with underserved populations and within diverse contexts, and devise appropriate interventions. Students with this certificate pursue careers with

  • Government agencies
  • Nonprofit leadership
  • Housing research

Courses teach students about 

  • Bottom-up decision-making
  • Ethical research approaches and communication
  • Capacity-building strategies
  • Program evaluation
  • Nonprofit and government funding mechanisms

The Community Development Certificate is supported by the Center for Housing and Urban Development. The certificate is open to all graduate students at Texas A&M University.

Apply


Curriculum

ListingClassCredits
PLAN 649Organizational and Community Response to Crises and Disasters3
RPTS 605Community Organization3

Select two of the following courses:

ListingClassCredits
AGEC 603Land Economics3
AGEC 605Rural Real Estate Appraisal and Organization3
ARCH 673Design for Active Living3
ARCH 676Survey of Human Behavior and Design3
EHRD 605Principles and Practices of Leadership in Human Resource Development3
ESSM 651Geographic Information System for Resource Management3
ESSM 652Advanced Topics in Geographic Information Systems3
GEOG 616Urban Geography3
GEOG 619Human Impact on the Environment3
GEOG 660Applications in GIS3
HLTH 631Community and Public Health3
PLAN 610Structure and Function of Urban Settlements3
PLAN 622/LAND 622Critical Place Studies: Theory, Research and Practice3
PLAN 625Geographical Information Systems in Landscape and Urban Planning3
PLAN 626Advanced GIS in Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning3
PLAN 629Neighborhood Revitalization3
PLAN 656Housing and Community3
RENR 660/ESSM 672Environmental Impact Analysis for Renewable Natural Resources3
RPTS 606Overview of Tourism3
RPTS 609Social, Economic and Cultural Issues in Outdoor Recreation and Natural Resources3
RPTS 626Social Impacts of Tourism3
RPTS 646Heritage Tourism3
RPTS 666Parks, Tourism and the Natural Environment3
RPTS 670Youth Development Programs and Services3
SOCI 667Seminar in Race and Ethnic Relations3

Final examination conducted by the Advisory Council. The test will be based on the material from PLAN 649 and RPTS 605. Students will be asked to take this test when applying for the certificate.

View Program Requirements